


A Raven and a Doctor

by FrogDadUntitled



Category: Maleficent (Disney Movies)
Genre: After Maleficent 2, Diaval is the Chicken character of Maleficent, F/M, Gen, Post-Canon, Raven Man, What if Diaval met another nice human
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21619051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrogDadUntitled/pseuds/FrogDadUntitled
Summary: Diaval, as a raven, is a highly intelligent creature. He can recognize dangerous situations, dangerous creatures, and dangerous humans. He can make tools to kill and catch food. Things like that. But none of the aforementioned traits protect Diaval for being hit by a rather large and heavy broom.
Relationships: Aurora & Diaval (Disney), Aurora/Phillip (Disney), Diaval & Maleficent (Disney), Diaval & Original Male Character
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45





	1. The Meeting

Diaval, as a raven, is a highly intelligent creature. He can recognize dangerous situations, dangerous creatures, and dangerous humans. He can make tools to kill and catch food. Things like that. But none of the aforementioned traits protect Diaval for being hit by a rather large and heavy broom. 

Pain scours his small body from his right wing as the woman with the broom raises the weapon again to smash it into his head. Diaval caws in fear, looking at his to-be killer with glass eyes. 

“Stop!” Comes a young voice. A male human, no older than 20, comes running and stops in front of Diaval. “Don’t kill the raven!” He demands. 

Diaval doesn’t hear anything else, focusing on trying to fly away. He spreads his wings, flats then once, and caws in anguish. His wing is broken. He is no better than dead. 

The young human kneels before Diaval, holding out a hand. “Please come onto my hand, raven. I can help heal you.” He speaks softly. 

Diaval looks at the hand warily. Humans try to hurt him, as he is a scavenger. However, this human protected him. Deciding that he had nothing left to lose, with his wing broken, he carefully stepped into the man’s hands. 

The man rises, carrying Diaval through the back streets of a village, coming to a hut in the outer edge. They enter the hut, and Diaval is surprised to see it’s mostly organized. Diaval is placed on the table, and the man walks to a very misshapen cupboard. He takes out a roll of cloth and a bowl. 

“Please stay here, raven.” The man says. “I must go get clay.” And with that, he sets down the cloth and leaves with the bowl. 

Diaval didn’t do much but observe the hut from his perch on the table. There’s nothing special. The cupboard, a stone stove, a hearth in the center, a bed, a few shelves with bowls and jars, and a desk full of different items and a stone bowl with a long stone inside it. He has seen humans crush things in those before. 

Before that thought can go any farther, the man re-enters. He sets the bowl down next to the cloth, sitting on a stool. “Raven, I’m not sure if you can understand me, but in the case that you do, I will ask you yes or no questions. Two caws for yes, one for no. Do you understand?” He asks. 

Diaval tilts his head, cawing twice. This human is … interesting. 

“Would you like to know what I am doing to you and why?” Two caws. 

The man smiles. “Well, first I must take a look at your wing bones. If I can, I will then reset them abs cover your wing in cloth without further ruining your wing. Then I will carefully apply a layer of clay to the bandage to keep it in place. It will stay on for approximately a moon cycle before breaking off the clay and checking the wing. If it has healed properly, you may leave. If it has not completely healed, you will stay until it has. If it has healed incorrectly, I will ask if you want to stay here, or if you would like to leave, or if you would like to die. As for why, I am an animal doctor. I treat the duck and injured animals in the village. What kind of doctor would I be if I let an animal die without trying to first help them?” He explains. 

Diaval looks at the doctor in wonder. Never had he encountered any human like him. It was refreshing. 

The doctor examined the broken wing, finding only a few fractures. He gave a warning that it would be painful, and Diaval wanted to die as his bones were moved and wrapped.

It wasn’t until the clay was set and dried that the doctor moved. He went to one of the shelves, looking through pots. “Would you like some jerky? It’s meat that has been dried and salted.” One caw. “How about bread?” Two caws. 

The doctor brings Diaval a small piece of bread, setting it in front of him and taking a bite of the dried meat. “I do love ravens. It’s a shame most hate them out of superstition. Ravens are such beautiful creatures, and rather intelligent. Wouldn’t you agree, raven?” He sighs, swallowing the last of his meal. Two caws. 

The doctor laughs, reaching out two fingers, a silent request. Two caws. Diaval is surprised at the gentleness the doctor’s fingers holds as they run down his head and neck. 

The moon cycle runs fast. Diaval is surprised when the clay comes off to see his wing fully healed. The doctor sighs, running his fingers down Diaval’s head with a solemn smile. 

“I shall miss you, sweet raven. I wish you luck on future fights.” He says, opening his window. 

Diaval caws twice, looking at the doctor. He wonders if the doctor will forget him, as Diaval himself never shall. He spreads his wings, flapping them and soaring out the window. 

Diaval swears to himself to never lose his wings again. As nice as the doctor was, a raven is a bird, and every bird must fly on its wings. And the promise is kept until Diaval runs into a dark fey manner Maleficent. 


	2. The Reuniting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yes.” He says. “I’m sorry, I thought I was with someone else for a moment.”
> 
> Aurora looks even more confused at that. “Who did you mistake me for, Diaval? It is not like you to mistake anything, much less me.”

Diaval isn’t sure how it happened. One moment he is flying through the Moors, the next he’s on the ground in unimaginable pain. Well, not unimaginable. It’s a sensation he’s had once before. 

Aurora finds him in the next few minutes, gently picking him up and taking him to Maleficent, who had returned for a few days to visit with her daughter. 

Diaval bathes in the nostalgia the gentleness off Aurora’s touch gives him. 

“Are you alright, Diaval?” Aurora asks. In the haze of his pain, he forgets Aurora can understand him as a raven and caws once, no meaning behind it.

Aurora looks at him with confusion, Abbas he remembers who he’s with. 

“Yes.” He says. “I’m sorry, I thought I was with someone else for a moment.”

Aurora looks even more confused at that. “Who did you mistake me for, Diaval? It is not like you to mistake anything, much less me.”

Diaval doesn’t answer, instead looking back on his memories with the doctor. The first human to show him kindness not because of duty, or seeing him as a human, or because he was useful. But instead because Diaval is a creature, and the doctor protected creatures. 

They reach Maleficent, who heals Diaval with her magic and turns him back into his human form. 

“I do not want you getting hurt on your own accord.” The fey explains. “You will need to stay like this for a few moon cycles.”

Diaval goes into the town across the river the next day, wanting to move. He looks at the artwork and goods other humans have made, with a few avoiding him as they know of what he truly is. 

As Diaval is wandering, he hears someone bartering for paper and ink. Turning, Diaval sees the doctor talking to a vendor with increasing frustration. He walks to him, stopping behind the man. The vendor, out of fear, agrees quickly to whatever price the doctor had bartered. 

The doctor collects his things and turns to face Diaval. “Hello, sir. May I help you?” He asks in politeness. 

Diaval is tempted to tell him that moment, but decides against it. He nods instead. “Will you walk with me? I have something I would like to discuss in a more private setting.”

The doctor looks Diaval up and down. “How far from the town is this more private place?” He asks. 

“Not far, I promise.” Diaval assures. “I would ask if you would like to speak outside my home, but I’m afraid that is the Moors. Would outside the castle with for you?”

The doctor nods, following Diaval. Diaval feels almost giddy. As much as being a raven made him feel whole, being a human allowed for smoother communication. 

They pause in front of the castle. Nobody is around them, most likely at the market. The doctor turns to Diaval. 

“What was it you wanted to speak to me about?” He demands. 

Diaval simply smiles. “I know it might sound out of place, but do you remember healing the broken wing of a raven a few seasons ago?”

The doctor glasses at Diaval. “How do you know of that? Do you come to attack me, too?” He steps back into a defensive position. 

Diaval cocks his head to the side, making one caw-like noise from his throat. He shakes his head. “I apologize. No, I do not come to hurt you. I come because I am that raven, and I owe you a life debt. I lived because of your kindness, doctor, and now have a mistress and a queen to serve.”

The doctor narrows his eyes. “I do not believe you. You are a human, not a raven.”

Diaval laughs, a foreign sound for the raven-man. “My mistress, Maleficent, has turned me human. Just yesterday I had broken my wing again. I was turned human again to ensure I would not hurt myself again.”

The doctor mulls over the information. “Are you lying to me?” He asks. 

Again, Diaval feels himself make one very caw-like sound. Before he can actually answer, the doctor has stepped forwards and taken Diaval’s arms. 

Diaval, now only slightly shorter than the doctor, looks up to see him with tears in his arms. “Oh, sweet raven. I really did miss you. I am so glad you did not forget me as I had feared.” He whispers. 

Diaval wishes he was in a raven body again. He wants the doctor to hold him and run his fingers down his head. He wants to help the doctor in any way a raven can.

He feels a hand stroke his hair once before stopping. “Is this okay?” The doctor asks. Diaval can only nod.

“As long as it is you, Doctor.” He mutters, and feels the man laugh slightly. “What? What is so funny?”

The doctor sighs, going back to stroking Diaval’s hair. “You don’t know my name, raven. And I don’t know yours, yet we are closer than most of my kind. I find that funny.” He explains. “But I am named Benjamin.”

Diaval rattles the name around in his head. It isn’t light on the tongue like Aurora, nor does it hold power like Maleficent, nor the regal crispness of Phillip. It’s more humble. He smiles, going back to the small hut. Benjamin. It fits.

Diaval retreats from the memory and his wandering thoughts back to reality. “I am Diaval, the wings of my mistress.” He says, before thinking about how she had left him human. “Well, I was.”

The doctor, Benjamin as he now knows, takes a deep breath before stepping back. “Diaval means devil where I’m from, you know.” He smiles slightly, running his fingers through the mess of brown hair on his head.

Diaval can feel himself laugh again. “I didn’t, but it’s quite amusing.”

Benjamin looks up at Diaval with excitement sparkling in his eyes. “I’m rather glad you pulled me aside. I believe that you are a rather interesting one, raven.”

Diaval gives Benjamin a face splitting grin at ‘raven’, happy that one human other than Aurora saw him as what he is. Benjamin was right, after all. He is a rather interesting one.


	3. The Second Meeting

“Diaval.” Aurora’s voice cuts through Diaval’s thoughts. “What is the reasoning for that look on your face? Did something happen in the market or in town?”

Diaval looks up to see Aurora looking down at him as he lays underneath a tree. Her face is filled with mirth and curiosity, as well as the usual kindness that she exudes. 

Diaval smiles up at the queen. “I met someone I thought I would never see again. He asked to meet up tomorrow in front of the castle.”

Aurora studies her friend as he stares off into nothingness with a ridiculous smile gracing his features. “When did you meet this person? I would assume before you met Maleficent.” She asks him.

Diaval nods slowly. “Not long before I met my mistress, an angry woman hit me with a broom. A very kind doctor took me in and healed my wing and kept me alive. I never thought I would see him again, and yet he was buying ink and paper yesterday.” He recalls.

“Was he surprised that you are in a human form?”

“Of course.” Diaval tells her in shock. “He simply knew me as ‘raven’, and I knew him as ‘doctor’. However, now we know each other’s names, and wish to know each other.” He thinks about Benjamin more. “He still calls me raven.”

Aurora laughs softly and sits down next to her friend, leaning on his shoulder. “That’s what you are. He can see that, like I can, and like your mistress can.”

Diaval nods and leans back on Aurora. They sit like that until the moon rises over the Moors and bathes the magical forests in a soft, silver light. The stars shine over their silhouettes as the night moves onwards.

Diaval fidgets in front of the castle gates. Aurora places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes to try and calm him down. Diaval gives the queen a small smile as he tries to calm his heart. Being a human made things so  _ complicated _ for him, especially regarding communication and interaction. Benjamin is one of the few humans he can be comfortable around as a human, he doesn’t want to mess this up.

“Diaval!” Benjamin calls as he runs up to the raven man. “And . . . Queen Aurora.” He stops as the queen stands next to Diaval in surprise. “I didn’t know you two were friends. My apologies.”

Aurora waves a hand. “Nonsense. This one will brush over these things as he sees them to be unnecessary. It’s wonderful to meet you, but I must go. Hopefully we’ll speak again.” With that, she turns and walks inside the 

Benjamin smiles at her retreating figure. “Queen Aurora is very kind. I am glad that you found a friend in her.”

Diaval looks at Benjamin. He’s more put together than he was yesterday, except for his hair. It’s still messy and falling in front of his face at times. “Yes. I find solace in the fact that she prefers peace and acceptance, and wishes for everyone to be themselves. It’s refreshing from most humans’ ideals.”

Benjamin turns to Diaval, still smiling. “That is true. However, I would hope that we didn’t meet up to simply talk politics and ethics, as significant as those are. Come, I know of a lovely place for breakfast.”

For most of the morning, Benjamin and Diaval learn about each other and what has happened since their last meeting. Diaval recounts all of his experiences with Maleficent, which piqued Benjamin’s interest.

Benjamin, on the other hand, became banished from his village for seeing humans as lesser beings to animals. Or refusing to heal humans, which is what he had done. Benjamin doesn’t know how to fix a broken leg of a child or cure the illness of an old man as well as the other doctors. Now he lives in a small hut in the woods, where he takes care of the creatures there, and they take care of him.

For the rest of the afternoon, they wander the market and marvel at the artisans and their work, as well as dance to one of the bands playing in the square.

“You know,” Diaval tells Benjamin as they stand outside the city walls, “If you ever wish to see me, or find a safe place to stay, I will always be at the Moors.”

Benjamin takes a deep breath as he looks at the magical forest across the water. “Thank you, dear raven. I am sure I will visit when I have the time.”

With that, Diaval watches as Benjamin walks off into the wilderness before turning and walking the other way to the Moors.


	4. The Lunch

Diaval and Benjamin find themselves meeting with each other almost every two days. They never went to the Moors, or to Benjamin’s hut in the woods, but instead walked around the town and talked.

They talked about many things. Magic, fae, medicine, and eventually topics such as ethics and religion. Diaval, for one, had a hard time understanding religious ideals and theology. It was hard to wrap his mind around the idea that humans believed that one entity had enough power to control them, and that entity was seen as male.

“I have yet to meet a man who is strong enough to beat Aurora in an argument about ethics, or defeat my mistress in a battle. Why, then, would a man be powerful enough to control humans and their lives? And why would such an entity be worried with  _ humans _ ?” He asked Benjamin when first learning about God.

Benjamin had shrugged. “I am not sure. I would rather turn to ancient religions with deities of all shapes and sizes, where I can pledge myself to one of them, than devote myself to one higher power. But maybe I hold animosity towards the ideals of my village and of the people who don’t wish for me to practice my livelihood.” He sighs and strokes Diaval’s head. “Let’s leave this here, hm? There’s not much more I know about the subject.”

Over the next two months, Benjamin and Diaval grew to be close friends. They trusted each other, more than they trusted most people close to them.

That is probably why Aurora and Phillip want to meet Benjamin. Diaval, after all, doesn’t interact well with humans, so becoming incredibly close to one is more than deserving of them meeting. 

When Diaval told Benjamin that Aurora and Phillip had wanted to meet him, Benjamin started to worry and spiral into a hysteria.

“Raven, you don’t understand! They’re the rulers of this place, Aurora and Phillip are  _ royalty. _ I’m a peasant who lives just outside the boundaries in a hut that’s almost falling apart. A doctor who doesn’t treat humans and thus got thrown out of his village!” Benjamin lamented, pulling at his hair. “They may be your closest friends, but I know them only in name! I-”

“I disagree.” Diaval had cut off. “You are also one of my closest friends, dear doctor, and they respect that. I believe they only want to know you better. Aurora has already met you, although brief, and has told Phillip that, in those few moments, she found you kind and good. You need not worry. It is only a meal between friends.”

Benjamin laughed. “Although that does not quell the worry, it does subdue it. Thank you, Diaval.” 

Diaval smiled at his friend. “I will see you when the sun is high in two days, correct?”

Benjamin had nodded and left for his home, and Diaval left for his.

Now, two days later, Diaval and Benjamin walk to the dining hall in the castle to meet with Aurora and Phillip for lunch. Benjamin still is worrying about meeting the king and queen, and Diaval is still trying to convince him that there is nothing to worry about.

“Diaval.” Benjamin starts as they approach the hall doors.

“Nothing, Benjamin. They are excited to meet you for longer than a passing moment.” Diaval hushes him when they walk through.

Aurora and Phillip had been conversing as they awaited Diaval and his friend. They turned to the pair with bright smiles and Phillip rose from his seat.

“Welcome!” He told them. “Please, sit. The food will be out in a few minutes.”

Diaval and Benjamin sit directly across Aurora and Phillip respectively. Benjamin shifts around in nervousness.

“So Benjamin, we have heard so much about you. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.” Phillip starts, and Benjamin looks up at him. “However, I don’t know how you two met. Would you please enlighten me?”

Benjamin glances at Diaval, whose eyes are glimmering at the memory. He nods slightly at Benjamin to tell the story.

“I used to live in a small village.” Benjamin starts. “I would heal their livestock for a living, I’m an animal doctor. One day, one of the elder women in the village had found a raven picking at her crops and hit it with a broom. I saw this and stopped her from killing the raven and took him back to my home on the outskirts of the village.

“We made a way to communicate. One caw for no. Two caws for yes. I bandaged and set his broken wing, and helped him stay healthy until the wing was functioning. Then he left. Years later, I’m living in the forest and came to the market for more paper and ink when the same raven found me.” Benjamin looks at Diaval with a smile. “I have never been more grateful for such a friend.”

Phillip nods as Benjamin finishes the story. Aurora laughs a little. “That explains his reaction when he broke his wing last. Maleficent was not happy about that.”

Diaval scowls. “I do not like being in a human body.”

Benjamin shakes his head and gives Diaval’s head a stroke. “Hush now. We know.”

The food comes out moments later. A small bowl of fruit, some sliced meat and cheese, and some bread for everyone. Benjamin picks at the food a little bit before eating, lavishing in the richness of a warm and full meal.

Diaval laughs at the sound Benjamin makes when he takes the first bite. Benjamin glares at the raven-man but says nothing. Aurora and Phillip watch as the two exchange glances throughout the meal with amusement.

Aurora hugs Benjamin when he goes to leave. “Thank you.” She whispers in his ear. “For being his friend.”

Benjamin walks home with a smile on his face.


	5. Hey

I am discontinuing this. If anyone wants to continue it, I will add you as a cocreator. Sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no clue how medicine works in any time period, so I made it up on my own.


End file.
